The effect of prosocial behavior and its intensity on doctors’ performance in an online health community

Abstract Online health communities (OHCs) are encouraging doctors to engage in prosocial behaviors to promote sustainable development of OHCs and benefit the user base, which may further influence doctor-level performance. However, it is unclear how prosocial behavior and its intensity affect doctor-level performance, such as doctor-patient relationship, online reputation, and online demand. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of prosocial behavior and its intensity on doctor-patient relationship, online reputation, and online demand. We conducted a series of empirical analyses on 103,208 doctor-level samples from a leading OHC in China. Initially, we applied the propensity score matching (PSM) method to obtain a more balanced sample, then, we employed a negative binomial regression model to analyze the sample after PSM, and finally, we performed a robustness test using a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model and changing the time window. Our research findings indicate that prosocial behavior positively affects the doctor-patient relationship, doctors’ online reputation, and online demand. The intensity of prosocial behavior has an inverted U-shaped relationship with the doctor-patient relationship, online reputation, and online demand. The doctor’s clinical title negatively moderates the effect of prosocial behavior on the doctor-patient relationship and online demand. Therefore, OHC operators can draw on our findings to encourage more doctors to engage in prosocial behavior while suggesting they consider the role of the intensity of prosocial behavior and clinical title.